An American Transfiguration: A HP Spin-Off
by PhoenixWild25236
Summary: A lot is changing now that the second wizarding war is over. Henry, a second year student at Hogwarts, finds himself being transferred to the Sweetwater Wizards Institute in the United States because of his father's new promotion at the Ministry of Magic. Can this British boy successfully manage changing from a loyal Hogwarts student to an American taught wizard?
1. Chapter 1: The Ambassador Program

Trying out my wings a little bit, any comments are appreciated. I've always loved Harry Potter and have often thought about how a place like Hogwarts would play out in a place like the US. I decided on a transfer student so that the reader could start on familiar ground and then branch out to a whole new place. Enjoy!

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Henry sat at his desk, quill in hand, ready to start on the homework Professor Flitwick had assigned for the summer ("Discuss the practical application of the charm used during your examination. Amusement from a tap dancing pineapple will not be accepted."). Only a few weeks had passed since the end of term, and yet he was eager to prepare for his second year at Hogwarts. The first year had been full new experiences and he loved everything about the school with the minor exception of the construction that was still going on in the castle. The wizarding war had been over for three years but the castle had sustained heavy damage that would take time to repair, even with magic. Headmistress McGonagall was also implementing new protection never seen before at Hogwarts. Admittedly, Peeves did not help the process much, though he did provide an excellent test to the new protective spells created just for the castle.

A soft knock at the door interrupted Henry from his thoughts of the castle. He looked over to see his father in the door frame. "May I come in?" He asked, tentatively. There was a look on his face that Henry couldn't place.

"Henry, there's something we need to talk about. I've been promoted at the Ministry and given a special assignment."

Henry's face lit up. His father was currently working in the Muggle Relations department, the most boring office in the mind of a twelve year old.

"Now that the war has been over for a few years, Minister Shacklebolt wants to strengthen our relations with other countries and has decided to adopt a model similar to Muggle governments. It's called an ambassador program, where one individual goes and represents their home country while living in another country."

Henry's excitement was fading into trepidation. He didn't understand why his father was explaining this to him, but a nagging feeling in his stomach led him to believe it wasn't good news.

"The minister wants me to be one of those ambassadors. I'll be serving as the British ambassador to the United States Federal Government of Magic"

Henry sat there, confused. After a bit of a pause from his father, he realized it was his turn to ask questions. "So, will the family have to move to the U.S.?"

"Yes, we'll be leaving at the end of the month."

"So, I guess that means I won't get as many owls when I'm Hogwarts. I bet it'd be really hard for Circe to fly over the ocean every week. And I guess I'll get to see you and mum at holidays and over break since we can just set up a Floo Powder connection. Are you excited to leave?"

His dad gave a sad smile. "There's more to it. The minister asked that we do all we can to show good faith in the American government, including its education system, and I agreed it was the right thing to do. Starting in the fall you'll be transferring to Sweetwater Wizards Institute. You'll be in the second year just like you would be at Hogwarts. From what I hear, there aren't houses like at Hogwarts since the boys and girls are in separate locations for the first few years."

Henry's mind reeled with the news. How could he not return to Hogwarts? It was his dream his entire childhood, the school embodied everything he loved about being a wizard. How could his father take this away from him? Shock turned to anger, and tears began falling on his face.

"How could you do this to me? What makes you think I would say yes to this? Hogwarts is my home, you can't take me away from the best education in the world. You have to change your mind on this."

His dad gave Henry a look of pity. "I'm sorry, son, but everything is finalized. We all are leaving for the US in three weeks. I'll do everything I can to make this as easy as possible for you." He moved towards his son, who turned away to hide his tears. With a heavy pause, he walked out the door, giving his son the space he thought he needed.


	2. Chapter 2: Preparations

Henry sat on a tower of boxes, a scowl over his face as he looked at the ticket in his hands. It looked nothing like his Hogwart's train ticket but rather like an airplane ticket. He scanned the different parts of the ticket. "Delta Flight 3854, DFW to GRA, Gate E7. Boarding at 1:30 p.m. Departure at 2:00 p.m. Arrival at 2:30 p.m. CST." He set down the ticket and reached for the letter that came with the ticket. 

"Dear Mr. Donaldson,

We are pleased to welcome you to the Sweetwater Wizards Institute. On the next page you'll find a list of all items necessary for the second year. In addition, second years are allowed to bring their own broom and you will be allowed to try out for the school Quodpot team." At this, Henry snorted. He had forgotten Americans preferred the overly simplistic Quodpot game to Quidditch. "Included is your plane ticket from Dallas-Ft. Worth airport to the Gesin Ranches Airport. Please be sure any connecting flight you may have booked allows you plenty of time to get to the specified gate in a timely manner."

"There is much to be excited about in the coming year, and as your principal, I am eager to see the students return to campus once more. Welcome to the Sweetwater community.

All the best,

David Johnson

Principal, Sweetwater Wizards Institute"

His mother walked in just as Henry finished the letter and noted the scowl on Henry's face. She smiled gently and said, "I just finished booking your flight to Dallas. Are you sure you don't want me to go with you on the first flight and make sure you can find your way to the right gate?"

Henry looked up, appalled. "Mum, I'm going to an all boys school and I'm already going to stick out as the new kid with a funny accent. Imagine what they'll do to me if I show up with my mum at the gate."

"I know, dear, I just worry about you. I know this hasn't been easy for you." At this Henry just turned a cold shoulder, hoping his mother would get the hint. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his feelings with his mother who seemed perfectly happy at this new adventure. Luckily, she didn't push the envelope. "It looks like you've got everything you need for the next year with the exception of a few textbooks. I can have your dad pick them up after work if you don't want to go into town."

Henry continued the silent, cold shoulder. His mother just shrugged. "I'll take that as a yes. You'll have everything by the end of the week." She walked out of the room.

Alone in a room full of boxes with nothing to do, Henry reluctantly pulled out the second page of the letter. Despite his goal to abhor anything to do with this new school, he couldn't shake his curiosity about the type of classes he would be taking this year. He glanced down and saw some of the Hogwarts core classes listed: Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, History of Magic and Potions. With a sigh of relief, realized he would be using the same textbooks he would have used at Hogwarts. What he was even more curious about were the class titles he hadn't recognized: Magical Defense ("A Beginner's Guide to Protective Spells "by Richard Scott), Magical Theory ("Introduction to Magical Theory" by Caroline Anson), and Orienteering ("Navigating All Parts of The World" by Washington Daniels). Magical Defense sounded a lot like Defense against the Dark Arts. Magical Theory was an elective Hogwarts students could begin taking during the third year so he had a guess as to what that class might be like. As for Orienteering, he had no idea what to expect. He racked his brain for a possible explanation, but nothing came to mind. Even the book title was incredibly vague. He also noted Astronomy was missing from the list and shook his head. _Bloody Americans_, he thought to himself.

Henry got up from his box to go to his room. All that was left to do was to wait and pity himself for the horrible situation his father put him in.


	3. Chapter 3: The Muggle Airport

As the car began pulling up to Washington Dulles Airport, Henry took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Whether he liked it or not, he was about to start his next adventure. Despite his feelings of discontent, he couldn't help his amazement at the depth of organization that the muggles went through to keep an airport up and running. Coming from London, the Ministry of Magic had simply established a Floo Powder connection to the Federal Government of Magic, which meant instantaneous, and somewhat disappointing, results. Henry had heard about airplanes, but the idea of flying in one seemed exciting and daunting at the same time.

His dad parked the car with ease. They all got out and Henry's father went straight to the trunk. Henry started walking towards the door, but stopped at his father's request.

"I have something I'd like to give you before you go." Immediately he reached into the trunk and pulled out a cage. Henry's eyes widened at the sight. In front of him was a beautiful owl with rust colored feathers and intense yellow eyes. The owl was bit smaller than the owls he was used to seeing at Hogwarts and was a breed he didn't recognize at all. He looked from the owl to his father, then back to the owl, mesmerized by the gift.

"She's a red eastern screech owl, native to the Texas area, where Sweetwater is located. Your mum and I thought you could use an American friend." He handed the cage to Henry so he could get a closer look. "What would you like to name her?"

He fidgeted. As a Ravenclaw, he liked things to have time to muse things over, preferably after consulting his textbooks, in order to come up with just the right response. Just thinking about being a Ravenclaw made his heart hurt, but he realized his answer was right there in front of him.

"Rowena. Her name will be Rowena, after the founder of Ravenclaw house."

His dad frowned slightly. "Are you sure you don't want to pick an American name? She is an American bird, after all."

Henry glared at his father. "Just because I'm stuck getting an American education doesn't mean I have to give up my love for Hogwarts. The name stays."

Sighing, his father continued on. "I've charmed the cage to appear to be a dog cage to any muggle that sees you. I'm not sure security would allow an owl on the airplane. I've also put a silencing charm around the outside of the cage just in case Rowena doesn't enjoy the flight." Henry nodded, then turned back to his owl to give her a scratch behind the head.

"Before you go, Henry, we want you to know how proud of you we are. This is a hard thing to do, and I know you'll rise to the challenge and represent our country well." With that, his father gave him a strong hug, though Henry stood there stiffly. Even though he knew his parents recognized his disapproval for all the decisions recently made, he still wanted to take every opportunity to remind them of his feelings. "Come on, let's get you on the plane. The last thing we need is for you to miss your first flight."

The flight from Washington to Dallas passed uneventfully, though lift off was a terrifying experience. Being stuck in a huge metal box traveling at high speeds was not a wizard's preferred method of flying, in his own opinion. Once they were in the air, however, Henry discovered that if he looked out the window, it felt like being on a broomstick. He sat stiffly in his muggle clothes and on occasion the lady next to him would sneak a glance. Determined not to engage her, he would only look at the window or down at Rowena, who fell asleep right at the beginning of flight.

Even though the minutes creeped by, Henry found himself in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport before long and with several hours to spare before his next flight. For the first time in his life, he found himself quite alone in the muggle world, and he began to regret his decision not to have his mother come with him. Even though she was raised in a wizarding home, she had always had a fascination with muggles and was quite comfortable navigating muggle places. She was a perfect match for his dad, who was raised by muggle parents. His dad had grown up in a warm and loving family and so he chose a career path that blended both his muggle raising and his wizard education. Henry always found magic to be much more interesting than anything in the muggle world and had spent little time thinking about anything muggle related. Even when his family took him out to Muggle places, his nose was firmly stuck in a book discussing magic so that he remembered very little of importance from their visits. Now he found himself stuck in a muggle airport, holding muggle money, surrounded by people who had no clue that magic even existed. It was a lonely feeling, knowing that his closest human friend (he already considered his owl his friend) was across an ocean. Feeling the tears well up, he decided to divert his attention elsewhere. His stomach conveniently rumbled, reminding him that just like muggles, a wizard has to eat.

Henry looked around at the hustle and bustle, not sure where to start. He started walking aimlessly when he caught the scent of something unfamiliar. Looking around, he noticed people standing in front of shop being handed trays of food. The signage was decked out in red and yellow and the largest sign boasted the name "McDonalds." The name sounded Scottish, and anything to do with Europe was a step in the right direction in Henry's mind. He stepped closer to observe how it all worked. The last thing he wanted to do was to barge his way into a new situation without knowing exactly what to do. He'll leave that for his Gryffindor friends.

The concept was simple enough. The boards up top listed what food was available and how much. People stood in one line, talked to a person, handed them what appeared to be muggle money, then stood in a group next to the counter. At random points people walked up and grabbed a tray from the counter with their food and walked off to the tables. Henry fished out the green paper his dad handed to him before leaving ("It's American money, Henry. For some reason muggles refuse to switch to coins, though I've never understood why."). Despite waiting on the periphery for several minutes, he still couldn't figure out how people knew it was time to get their food. His stomach rumbled, louder this time, and, as a twelve year old boy, his hunger was stronger motivation at times than his desire to understand things perfectly.

He walked up to the line and decided to look at the boards more closely. His face fell. This place didn't have anything to do with Scottish food. There were some signs that had images of foods with numbers next to them, while other boards simply listed items. The pictures were mostly of hamburgers and fries, so at least it wasn't anything too out there. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize he was at the front of the line until someone poked him in the back. Startled, he walked up to the counter to a middle aged woman with a broad smile.

"Hi hunny, welcome to Mickey D's. Can I take your order?"

Henry looked at her, puzzled. "I thought this place was called McDonald's, like it says on the sign."

The cashier looked taken back. "Uh, it is. Mickey D's and McDonalds are the same place." She gave a look around, expecting to find his parents. Upon realizing he was alone, she looked right at him. "Where are you coming in from?"

"England," Henry responded politely.

Her confused look got bigger. "I thought this place was everywhere, including Britain."

Shuffling uncomfortably, Henry responded quietly, "This is my first big trip. I'm not even sure what to order."

Sympathy replaced her confused look. "You look about the same age as my son and probably have a whale's appetite if you're anything like him. How 'bout I order you a quarter pounder with cheese, medium fry, and a coke? That should fill you right up."

Henry looked up, grateful. "I'd appreciate that, miss."

The cashier punched in a few numbers and said, "Your total is $10.92." Henry handed her the twenty dollar bill, which she put into a drawer. "$9.08 is your change. You'll want to stand with the others and wait for your order to be called."

He quickly moved to the side, relieved to be out of that awkward situation. After a moment, he panicked slightly, realizing he had forgot to ask the nice lady how he would know when his food was ready. She was busy with a long line of customers and so he would just have to guess. During this time a big black guy would come up to the counter and call out orders. Sometimes he would just say numbers and some words, other times he would just call out items. After a few minutes, his booming voice called out, "#2 with medium coke." He stood there for a moment, and when nobody moved to the front, he shouted again, "#2 with medium coke." His eyes looked over the group, and his face flashed annoyance.

"Yo, I got a #2 meal with a medium coke. If you don' step up I'm a moving to the next order." He bellowed in his loudest voice yet. Henry looked concerned, glancing back at the cashier. She immediately looked over to him and said, "Sweetie, that's you. Frankie ain't a patient man, so you better get it now."

Blushing, Henry grabbed his tray and walked to the first empty table he could find. The burger was definitely not Hogwarts standards, but he could tolerate it. The fries were surprisingly good, but the brown drink was absolutely horrid to Henry. After one sip he couldn't stand it, and so it sat there untouched. The dread of what was about to happen was filling Henry. When he was off to Hogwarts, he was nervous, but in an excited, life changing sort of way. For him, changing to a new wizarding school had all nervousness of starting at Hogwarts but lacked all of the excitement. Noting the time on the clock, he got up, threw his food away, and headed toward gate E7.


	4. Chapter 4 The Plane Ride

As Henry walked up to his gate, he saw a large gathering of boys his age lounging about. The older boys seemed to be in small groups, laughing and talking about their summers. There were looks of excitement about them. The youngest boys hung about on the periphery, some standing close to their parents while others stood along, unsure of what to do next or even who to talk to. As Henry looked at the scene, he realized his dilemma. He didn't want to barge into just anyone's group, yet he didn't want to make himself look like a first year. Anybody who was anybody seemed to be in one of the small groups, so Henry was out of luck on making friends with just one person at a time. He spotted a seat on the edge of the different groups and swiftly sat down, hoping that one of the boys would notice him. To his disappointment, they were too absorbed in their conversations. Henry listened in, hoping to find something he could relate to. The closest boy to him was a bit on the shorter side, but had broad shoulders and strong arms. He was sprawled out on the floor talking to three other boys, all of which were of an athletic build.

"... Did you see Dominic Garrett's lead that final play against the Oregonians? I thought the quod was going to explode as soon as he caught it!"

"I know, it looked like it was exploding as he dropped it in the bucket, it's a good thing he was going for the dunk instead of the long shot." Responded a dark curly hair boy next to the first. "There is no way that Boston Riverside is going to trade him now. It sounded like Houston Boars had their eye on him."

The first boy shook head. "The Boars can't afford him, he's way too pricy. Besides, everyone knows that most Texans prefer quidditch since the Sweetwater team actually wins games, unlike the Boars. Then again, it's easy to win quidditch when all the best flyers are on the quodpot teams."

"All passengers, flight 3854 to Gesin Ranches Airport will begin boarding, starting with group 1. All passengers with group 1 listed on their ticket may approach the gate." Startled, Henry rummaged through his pack and found his ticket. Before there had been nothing on his ticket about boarding groups, but now there was new lettering at the bottom saying, "Boarding, Group 2." Henry noted that the three quodpot boys had gotten up and were already moving towards the gate. Henry checked on Rowena, who was quietly looking around and observing everything. He fiddled around a bit, reorganized his pack, and continually glanced at the group at the gate, which would have gotten smaller but more boys seemed to be hanging around than before, waiting for their turn.

"We will now allow Group 2 to begin boarding. All passengers in Groups 1 and 2 for flight 3854 to Gesin Ranches Airport may now board." With a big sigh, Henry grabbed his things and walked towards the gate, looking to be the last boy in Group 2 to enter.

The line moved slowly inside the plane and, once inside, Henry noted nothing particularly different from the first plane he had been on. There were two rows of three seats, and everyone seemed to be sitting at the first available chair. As he walked down the aisle, he started to receive glances from those sitting in the middle. One particular boy, tall and skinny as a stick, gave him a funny look and called out, "Hey newbie, first years aren't supposed to be on board yet. Didn't you look at your ticket?"

At this the majority of boys stared at Henry. Taking a deep breath for confidence, he simply stated, "My ticket says Group 2, so I got on just like everyone else."

The kid gave him a look of disagreement. "Look, everyone knows everyone here, especially us second years. What makes you think you're in the same group with us?"

"Because I'm a transfer student from Hogwarts School in Britain. I've already completed my first year."

At this everyone's eyes got big. Transfer students were rare among the wizarding schools, even between the American institutes. Another kid whom Henry couldn't see piped up in a squeaky voice, "Dylan, don't be such a dimwit, of course he's a transfer! There's no American accent that stands out that much."

"Tommy, you're one to talk, you're from Jersey. You have to repeat yourself twice your accent is so thick," stated a boy diagonal from Henry. The rest of the boys started laughing, and Henry took that as his cue to sit down. He went to the back and sat in the seat next to the aisle next to a small black boy.

The boy looked up and held out his hand. "My name's Andre Smith."

With a firm shake, Henry responded, "Henry Donaldson."

"Henry, huh? Good to meet you. Are you exciting to be coming to Sweetwater?"

Looking apprehensive, Henry wasn't sure his initial answer of, "no, getting a second rate education is not an exciting prospect" would not go over well with his new classmates. Instead he responded with, "I'm excited, but a little nervous. The American education system is completely different from back home."

Andre shook his head. "I heard Hogwarts is pretty small compared to our schools. In the US we've broken out into fundamental education and ancillary education. Fundamentals cover the first through third years and ancillary covers fourth through seventh years, including OWL and NEWT testing. Fundamentals are separated by gender because the government thinks boys and girls learn too differently to mesh well with each other. They also wanted smaller groups so they could focus more on one on one teaching at the beginning. There are three boys institutes and three girls institutes. In ancillary everyone gets merged together."

Henry had so many questions after this short explanation. He settled on an easy question. "Where are all the institutes?"

"For boys, there's Sweetwater, obviously. It's the newest of the three boy's fundamentals. Then there's Reno Institute in Nevada and Frankfort in Michigan. For girls, they're in Salem, Massachusetts, Summersville, Kentucky, and Seattle, Washington"

"What about the ancillary school?"

"I'm not sure, but I've heard talk it's in West Virginia."

Henry looked on thoughtfully. He had assumed that Sweetwater would be the American version of Hogwarts with just boys, but that didn't seem to be the case. With a surprised look, Henry realized they were ready to take off. Before Henry could ask more questions, Andre jumped in with questions of his own. Henry happily described Hogwarts castle with all of its moving staircases and trick passages. He spent some time talking about the ghosts and Peeves (Andre seemed leery of the idea of a poltergeist at school). He talked about how much he enjoyed Charms with Professor Flitwick (his favorite class) and his stories as a dueling champion that everyone heard secondhand. He talked about the aggressiveness of the Whomping Willow, the kindness of Hagrid, and the perils of the Forbidden Forest. He talked about the four different houses and the friends he had in each. Henry talked through the entire flight, and to his astonishment, the pilot came on announcing that they would be landing in five minutes.

Andre noted the look on Henry's face. "Don't worry, you'll do just fine. Most of the boys are really nice, but make sure you don't cross the boys on the quodpot team. They think they are God's gift to the school and make sure everyone knows it."

"Andre, does anyone play quidditch?"

"Not often. A few boys here and there will play a pick me up game, but those on the quodpot team make sure that their sport dominates everyone's attention."

The plane landed smoothly and the level of chatter rose to a rather noisy level. As soon as the plane was in place, all the boys got up, eager to begin their next year of schooling. Henry followed the group and stayed in step behind Andre. All of the older boys knew where they were to go, and so they snaked out of the airport, and Henry got his second look at what the United States actually looked like.


	5. Chapter 5: Sweetwater Wizards Institute

The first thing Henry noticed was that everything was desert brown. Later he would learn there is a big difference between the plains and the desert, but coming from England and Washington D.C., where everything was green and full of trees, it was a bit concerning that everything looked dead. The second thing he noticed was that everyone was loading into three school buses. It all seemed rather unmagical. At Hogwarts, there was a bit of magic infused in everything, from passing through a brick wall to platform nine and three quarters, to carriages drawn by invisible threstrals and boats that magically steer themselves towards a large and historical castle. Here they kept doing everything in a very standard muggle procedure, first getting on a plane with no particular magical properties, and now being loaded on a simple yellow schoolbus that read "Sweetwater Institute" along the side in plain, black lettering. None of the other boys seemed to mind.

Once again Henry didn't know where to go, and Andre had slipped into the crowd while he was busy taking everything in. He spotted the skinny boy who had challenged him on the plane getting onto the middle bus. The boy was a full head taller than everyone else and his strawberry blonde hair glistened in the hot Texas sun. Making his way over and onto the bus, he found that the back had filled up first this time, and so he took a seat right up front. Before long he felt a sharp poke on the shoulder.

"Hey Brits, let's hear a little more about you. What kinda wand are you carrying?" Tommy, the New Jersey boy, was sitting diagonally from him.

Henry pulled out his wand. "Elm and Unicorn, eleven and a quarter inches. I got it from Ollivanders." Tommy gave a slight whistle.

"We've all heard about Ollivanders, he supposed to be the best in the business. There's a few prominent shops around here, but my guy in DC, Jeremiah Oates, swears by Ollivanders. He took some time to study with him when he first got in the business."

"So what kind of wand do you have?" Henry responded.

"Honey Locust and Dragon, ten and half inches. It's got a bit of a kick to it, like me," Tommy bragged.

Someone snorted in the background. "Tommy, you gotta kick 'cause you're too short to pull a punch." Tommy must have known exactly who made the comment because he immediately launched himself over the top and onto another boy Henry couldn't see. The driver snapped at them to stop fighting in the middle of his drive, and even though they calmed down, Tommy chose to stay in his new seat.

Henry looked out the window, though there seemed to be nothing to see except a tiny ranch out in the distance beyond the fields of corn. After a few moments he noticed the ranch seemed to be getting slightly bigger, and with a start he realized that they were heading towards the ranch. To think that his new school would be in a barn, it was simply unacceptable to Henry. He turned around to catch someone's attention and confirm that what he saw was just a common muggle ranch, but everyone was too busy swapping chocolate frogs or discussing quodpot. He turned back around and looked at more of the surroundings, but there was absolutely nothing to see but a long metal fence running adjacent to the road, the corn fields, and the every growing ranch. Every once in a while a scraggly bunch of trees would pass by. Feeling disheartened, Henry turned down to Rowena and reached in his pack to find her an owl treat (his father had snuck in a bag of treats while Henry was packing his trunk). He tested her reflexes and find her to be quick yet playful with him. He couldn't wait to get her out the cage and to see how well she could fly. The bus eventually pulled off to a long, winding gravel path, and Henry's seat was constantly bouncing up and down. Rowena was not pleased with this new travel arrangement and started to voice her opinions, first quietly, and then more insistently. Henry tried to hush her, and to his relief, the bus stopped after a few minutes. Like the others, he instantly grabbed his things and got off the bus, quickly moving to the side so he could take everything in.

To the left he noticed a lane of trees leading next to a paved road that lead up to a spacious, two story home. The siding was of rich wood with a wrap around deck and rocking chairs out lawn was immaculate and there were several garden beds filled with a variety of flowers, plants, and a few birdhouses here and there. Birds and butterflies of all sorts were fluttering around. Under one of the bushes a young cat spying on all of them, though seemingly overwhelmed by the number of opportunities for pouncing. To his right he noticed the dirt path extended behind several barns and silos. There were three large barns on the corner of a square, with three silos sitting next to each barn. Each barn was a bright red with white trim, very traditional, and looked as though they contained a large loft on top. The barns were connected to the silos by a covered walkway. The silos were large, round, and metal with a domed top. Henry could see that the top was made of something other than metal, but they stood several stories high and Henry could not get a good look at it. At one corner stood a large L-shaped building, which was also connected by covered pathway to the buildings and silos. Henry couldn't see in the middle, but it looked to be a large grassy area. Behind most of the buildings stood open pastures, though Henry though he could see a few more buildings in the distance.

Henry's thoughts were interrupted by his New Jersey friend. "Brits, you're gonna be left behind if you keep staring at every little thing. We got robes to change into before opening ceremonies, so c'mon." Henry looked over and saw him motioning to the silo at the opposite corner. Picking up his things, he sprinted over to the open field and saw that it was a quodpot pitch. Where the hoops for Quidditch would be stood two tall poles with large cauldrons on top. The poles were slightly shorter than those in Quidditch and it looked as though the cauldrons sat right at the base of the silo's domed top. The younger students were heading to the silo next to the L-shaped building, all of them walking slow because they were trying to look at everything all at once (just like Henry). As Henry caught up with the second years, he noticed there were two entrances, one on each side of the silo that connected to a covered walkway.

As he walked in the silo behind Tommy, he was pleasantly surprised at his surroundings. The room was circular in shape and felt like a group lounge. The floor was carpeted in a deep purple and had an assortment of plush chairs and couches spread about, though no fireplace like in the Ravenclaw common room. There were curved bookcases went all the way up to ten foot ceilings and were placed in between each of the windows. Straight ahead was walled off and looked to be a spiral staircase leading to the next level. No one seemed to be stopping at the next level, but when Henry peeked in he realized it was a joint bath/shower room. Heading up to the next level, he walked into what would be his new bedroom.

Upon entering, Henry noted there were three rows containing five bunk beds, much like you would see in an army barrack. He realized that there would be no privacy screen like he had in Hogwarts. The room once again had a ten foot ceiling, though none of the furniture made it to the ceiling like the bookshelves downstairs. There were four six foot windows in every cardinal direction, and between the windows stood large wardrobes, one for each student. The trunks were waiting for them at the opposite side of the room, and the boys had already grabbed their items and were claiming their spots. As the last person in, Henry was left to choose a corner bed in the row farthest from the door, and it appeared that no one was to be his bunkmate. He looked around and counted the boys in the room, coming to a total of 28. He mimicked the other boys and put his clothes and books in a wardrobe close to his bed, leaving out his wizard robes and gently placing Rowena on his bed. He placed the empty trunk under his bed. It felt good to change into his robes, like things were just starting to fall back into place.

Tommy casually leaned on the end of Henry's bed, not quite looking cool but trying a little too hard to do so. "You ready for the opening ceremony?"

Henry smiled nervously. "I think so. What should I do with Rowena?"

"Rowena?" Tommy responded. He glanced around quickly and noted the red screech owl on Henry's bed. "You mean you carried your owl with you?"

Henry was a bit surprised. It wasn't like he had hid the cage, but then again, Rowena had always been safely stowed at his side away from everyone or at his feet. "Sure. How else was I supposed to get her here?"

Tommy gave a slight shake of the head. "Well, we all just let our owls fly here. No big deal since they know the way. Even the newbies' owls manage to find their way here."

"I guess it's obvious that we do things differently in Britain," Henry said quietly.

"You can say that again. Come on, you're in for a good time tonight. Let's head outside," Tommy said, nodding to the door.


End file.
